Much has changed since the competition’s inception but so much more can be achieved with further investment

Servet Uzunlar has seen the W-League come a long way in its 11 years. Comparing the status of the W-League’s inaugural season, which coincided with her own breakthrough season with the Matildas, and its current incarnation, the Western Sydney Wanderers captain describes its as “chalk and cheese”.

As sports law expert Braham Dabscheck notes in a paper on the evolution of women’s wages in Australia professional sports teams, one W-League club paid its players in that first season “to mainly cover travelling and accommodation expenses for overseas players and out of pocket and miscellaneous expenses for local players”.